Introductions

I figured the best place to start with this group would be an introduction thread... tell everyone here a little about yourself and why joining this group interested you. I'll go first here...

My name is Troy and I'm a Deaf single dad currently living in Minnesota. I started this group mostly in hopes to reach out to other deaf atheists who joined but also figured it would be good to have anyone here that knows sign language or even is interested in learning sign language.

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I'll go next! My name is Elizabeth and I'm a (hearing) single mom living in southern California. I'm stoked to find this group and find out what everyone's connection to the Deaf community is. One of my best friends in high school lived with his Deaf grandparents (who were very active in their Deaf community) so I learned a few signs so I could be polite when I visited their home. I really fell in love with the language and community so I started taking ASL classes at the community college in the evenings. When I went away to college I combined my love of the Deaf community with my love of teaching and earned a BA in Elementary Education of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. San Diego has a HUGE Deaf community (although a lot of it is religious) and it was wonderful to be part of such a thriving group. I look forward to seeing how everyone else is related to the Deaf community in their own way!!

Welcome! Hopefully more people with connections to the deaf community will join so we can meet more of them. That's an interesting story. Not a lot of people would go out of their way to learn sign language in order to communicate with a friend's deaf family. Most people would just write back and forth or depend on their friend to interpret, so that's really cool of you to have done that.

I'm not surprised that most of the Deaf community in your area is religious, that's pretty much standard all over. In fact I've never met another Deaf atheist in my life, we're the minority of a minority.

Nope, all of my deaf friends are mostly Christian. One female friend of mine is more of a Deist... she seems to believe that there is a god but not one that interferes with the lives of humans or cares about worship and prayer. I was mainstreamed at St. Louis Park Senior High School thru most of high school. I was briefly at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf my senior year, but I dropped out after the first semester and returned to SLP to finish my credits needed to graduate.

I never went to college because my adoptive parents were not supportive of it. They didn't believe that a deaf person could get a career out of a college education. I believe they assumed we were all janitors and dishwashers or something. I'm sure I could have gone to college on my own by applying for grants or financial aid on my own, but at the time I didn't know where to start with all of that and stupidly didn't make an effort.

I don't think I know anyone in the community from Minnesota. Do you know anyone out in California? It's too bad that you weren't encouraged to go to college. Is it too cheesy for me to say, "It's not too late!!"? It's frustrating to hear that that sort of stereotype is still portrayed in our country. We should know better!! Half of my professors in college were Deaf -- they had Master's degrees and PhDs and things like that. I hope that you have found a career that you are happy in, despite your lack of college.

No, I don't think I know any Deaf people out in Cali unless former classmates I lost touch with moved out there that I don't know about.

A lot of people tell me it's not too late for me to go to college, so you wouldn't be the first. I'm at a turning point in my life right now tho. I recently became a father and I'm moving out to Pennsylvania next year. I'm hoping that my son's mother and I will get married within a couple of years. After the dust settles I'll have to see because we're thinking about having another kid together after we get married too.

I'm not actually working right now... was having difficulties finding a decent job that paid well then I became a full0-time dad and I'd rather be at home full time with my son than having a babysitter with him and not getting much time with him. I'm planning to go back to work after I move.

Congrats on becoming a dad! How old is your son? I have a 3.5-year-old little boy. I hope things work out for the best with you and his mom. Being a single parent and paying for daycare/preschool is soooo hard! I stayed home with my son until he was one year old (I was still married to his father then). I loved being a stay-at-home mom! What are you thinking about doing for work after you move?

He will be 8 months next week. Coincidentally he and his mother have the same birthday.

I'm trying to get into video game testing right now. It's something I could do from home and apparently it pays pretty well. If I can get my foot in the door there I may consider taking some college courses towards furthering a career in the video game industry... we'll see. If that doesn't work out I was thinking about seeing if I could get a job working at the local Netflix distribution center. Another option is looking into working at Boeing which is quite close to where I'll be living and it pays quite well, but I'm not sure how comfortable I am with that considering that my son's mother's ex-husband works there and he and I wouldn't mix well.

I've heard of that book but haven't read it myself. Welcome to the group RaVen and to Atheist Nexus. Sorry it's a bit dead in here but deaf atheist deafies are a rare commodity. Most of the members of this group are hearing. As far as I know you and I are the only deafies.

Well it sounds like you've got several options in the works. Good luck! Looking for work is so frustrating, especially in our bad economy. 8 months is such a great age, in my opinion. My son was "aware" enough that he could interact and play with me, but not quite mobile enough to get into too much trouble! :) Are you signing to your son? I started signing to my son very early on....he probably had at least 6 signs when he turned 1, if I remember correctly.

Thanks :) I'm hoping the fact that I've been out of work for awhile won't hinder my return to the workforce.

Yep I sign to him and I also have him watch the "My First Signs" video by Baby Einstein. He isn't signing yet, but he waves his hands around a lot so I think it's only a matter of time before he picks it up.